In recent years, many municipalities and other locales have adopted a policy of encouraging or requiring the use of paper lawn refuse bags. The rationale for adopting paper as the material of choice for lawn refuse bags is that the paper bags, when placed in a landfill, are more biodegradable than plastic bags. In other words, the paper lawn refuse bags break down more easily in the landfill, thereby making it easier to reclaim the land in the landfill. While paper lawn refuse bags represent a growing trend and are easier on the environment, they nonetheless have some practical difficulties in their use.
For example, paper lawn refuse bags are less flexible and somewhat more awkward to use than plastic lawn refuse bags. This can make the filling of the paper lawn refuse bags tedious and difficult. This general shortcoming of paper lawn refuse bags has been recognized in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,765 of Lacy Jr. relates to a paper sack holding dolly with a top entry guide and a bag top to guide the shank-holding strap. The '765 patent discloses a wheeled dolly (stand) for supporting a paper lawn refuse bag during filling. However, the '765 patent fails to teach a convenient means for holding the top of the bag open during loading, nor does it teach or suggest a reliable mechanism for holding such a bag up during filling to prevent the collapse of the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,777 of Porto relates to a grass hopper cart which consists of a cabinet and a structure within the cabinet for holding a standard paper lawn refuse bag in an opened stationary position. The '777 patent discloses a hopper in the cabinet above the holding structure so that the grass cuttings are dumped into the hopper and into the paper bag for proper disposal.
Despite these laudable efforts in the prior art, there exists yet a need for an apparatus for filling paper lawn refuse bags which is easily used, is highly effective for supporting the bag during filling, is particularly effective for keeping the top of the bag open during filling, and is simple in its construction and operation. It is to the provision of such an apparatus that the present invention is primarily directed.